1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to toilet trip lever assemblies and in particular to a toilet trip lever assembly which is mountable to the side wall of a toilet tank.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Toilet trip lever assemblies are well known. They usually comprise a stem which is rotatably mounted in the front wall of a toilet tank, a handle which extends radially from the stem outside of the toilet tank and a trip arm which extends radially from the stem inside the toilet tank. The trip arm is connected to the toilet tank outlet valve. When a user rotates the handle, the trip arm is rotated about the same axis as the handle in a plane parallel to the tank front wall and opens the outlet valve.
Space limitations and ornamental considerations in modern toilet tanks have made a toilet trip apparatus which is mountable in a side (as opposed to front) tank wall desirable. For a toilet trip apparatus of this type, it is desirable that rotation of the handle produce a rotation of the trip arm in a plane which is perpendicular to the plane of the side wall. Of course, this requirement has been attended by a mechanism which is much more complex than the front wall mounted toilet trip mechanisms.
Kertell U.S. Pat. No. 3,419,912 issued Jan. 7, 1969 discloses one such prior art side wall mounted toilet trip lever assembly. However, the parts of the Kertell mechanism are metal and are relatively difficult to manufacture. These parts are assembled with numerous mechanical fasteners such as nuts and rivets so that the mechanism must be assembled in one or more subassembly operations. Only then can the mechanism be mounted to the toilet tank. Further, devices like Kertell are very time consuming to assemble and relatively expensive to produce. Therefore, a need exists for a "perpendicular" type toilet trip lever assembly which is easy and inexpensive to manufacture, assemble and mount.